


My Hero

by cdreaiton



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Advice, Age Regression/De-Aging, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - Freeform, Fluff, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Pre-Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Size Difference, Stony - Freeform, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, bathtime, past emotional abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 20:35:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8592577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdreaiton/pseuds/cdreaiton
Summary: When an alien artifact explodes and turns Tony into a four year old, the team works on finding a way to fix him, while Steve deals with little Tony's hero worship.





	1. Tiny Tony

**Author's Note:**

> THERE WILL BE NO SEX INVOLVING MINORS IN THIS STORY!!!! It is rated E because Steve and Tony are going to end up together, and there will be sexy times.

“Come on, Bruce! It’ll be fun! You and me together, showing up those know-it-alls over at SHIELD, kicking butt, taking names, it’ll be fun!” Tony says encouragingly, putting himself between Bruce and his computer screen.

“I have to finish these calculations, Tony.” Bruce responds easily, sliding his chair to the side and looking around Tony. “Besides, integrating alien tech into new weaponry is way more your department than it is mine.”

“So? You’re better than any of those hacks any day. And you know I don’t want anything to do with their research. Come with me, get angry, get me out of this!” Tony whines.

“I’m not going to help you level another SHIELD facility just because you don’t want to deal with their scientists for a few hours. And if you really don’t want to help them, don’t go. I’ve seen you talk your way out of far more dangerous and unpleasant situations than this. You’ll be fine.” Bruce chuckles softly under his breath while he scribbles an idea down in a notebook on his desk.

“How can you abandon me like this? Sending me alone into that den of wolves? You’re a traitor. I feel so betrayed right now.” Tony retorts without rancor, heading for the door.

“Have fun, Tony.” Bruce waves as his friend leaves.

***

“No.” Steve says when Tony approaches him, his eyes never leaving the newspaper he’s reading.

“I haven’t even asked you a question yet!” Tony counters, frustrated, sitting on the arm of the chair Steve’s sitting in.

“You either want me to call Fury and tell him you can’t help them, or go with you and do the same.” Steve remarks, turning the page with a small smile at the pout on Tony’s face.

Tony leans against Steve’s arm, pretending to read the paper over his shoulder. He’d really hoped the Captain would go with him so they could spend some time together, (which Tony is determined to think of as team bonding and not as him wanting to spend time with his crush, because that is so patently ridiculous it makes his head hurt. Just because his heart beats a little faster when he hears Steve’s voice in his ear during a mission, or his breath comes short when the Captain lays a hand on his shoulder to pull him from his work for dinner, doesn’t mean he _likes_ the man.)

“Not even if I say ‘please?’ Come on, Steve. They want me to help them make weapons!” He knows he sounds like a petulant child, but he really doesn’t want to go. At least not alone.

“Imagine that,” smirks Steve, “They called in a weapons expert to help them make weapons.”

“Smart ass.” Tony snaps, leaning in a little more, but not because he enjoys the warm solidness of Steve against him. “You don’t want me to help them anymore than I do.”

Steve tries to repress the blush that is threatening to color his cheeks at Tony’s closeness. It feels nicer than he dares to admit, and he can’t afford to lose his cool.

“No, I don’t. But I also know that by the time you actually get around to helping them, they’ll be so fed up with dealing with you, they’ll either scrap the whole project, or decide to figure it out on their own.”

“So that’s your play!” Tony cries triumphantly, standing up to glare at Steve and missing the contact immediately. “I’m your sacrificial lamb to keep the SHIELD demons at bay for a few more months!”

“Not exactly the metaphor I would use…” Steve chuckles, unperturbed by Tony’s glare.

“You’re using me!” There is anger in Tony’s voice now, which startles him. Logically, it makes sense, and Tony knows it. But the fact that it’s _Steve_ doing it… hurts more than he expected.

Steve stands, just as surprised by the anger as Tony. He hadn’t meant to actually _hurt_ the man, just keep SHIELD from trying to use alien technology to make more weapons. Which considering how that had worked out the last time… made a lot of sense. But seeing Tony’s reaction now… Steve feels awful for hurting his friend.

“Tony, I’m not _using_ you. I’m simply taking advantage of the fact that your… outgoing personality tends to rub a lot of people the wrong way.” Steve says, laying a calming hand on Tony’s arm.

Tony rips his arm from Steve’s grasp, startling the Captain. His voice is nearly a whisper when he speaks.

“And here I was thinking we were actually starting to be friends. I won’t make that mistake again.” 

Turning on his heel, Tony storms out of the mansion, leaving a very lost Captain standing confused in the middle of the living room.

***

Fury, by nature of his job, is use to explosions. They come with the territory when you’re the Director of SHIELD. He is not, however, use to having them randomly rock his hellicarrier and nearly knock it out of the sky.

“Hill! What the hell was that?” he yells at his second-in-command when the ship finally stops shaking.

“Unknown, Sir. But it looks like it came from the research sector,” Maria answers.

“Of course it did,” Fury says to no one in particular, “I don’t know why I should be surprised. Stark’s on board. Something was bound to blow up sooner or later. Send a team down to make sure there’s no injuries and that nothing _too_ important was damaged.”

“Yes, Sir,” comes her response.

Before Maria can even reach out for her com, a distressed voice comes over the intercom.

“Um… Sir? We’re gonna need you to come down here. We’ve got a situation…”

Fury is out of the command center before the agent can even finish talking, heading for the lower levels of the hellicarrier as fast as he can.

***

“Let me go!” a small child that looks disturbingly like Tony Stark screams at Fury when he enters the interrogation room he’d been directed to after he’d checked on the damage in research.

He stares at the child for several long moments before speaking.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Tony. You need to be taken to medical. If you’ll just go with these agents here, they’ll take you to get checked out.”

“No! I’m not going anywhere with you or your goons! And if you don’t let me go, my dad is going to call his friend Captain America to come get me, and then you’ll all be sorry you ever messed with a Stark!” Tony fires back, voice sharper than one would expect from someone so small.

Fury sighs heavily, trying to rein in his temper. It won’t do him any good to yell at the kid, who has already managed to escape his teams twice before they'd managed to corner him into one of the interrogation rooms. The boy is clad only in a large AC/DC tee shirt, and Fury can see a few bruises and abrasions on his arms and legs from the explosion. He needs medical attention, but he seems convinced he’s been kidnapped, so short of bodily forcing him into the medical wing… Fury’s not sure what to do. Dealing with children is not in his job description.

He steps out of the room, leaving the frightened child alone with one of his agents, hoping he might calm down enough to reason with. Pulling out his phone, he dials Steve’s number. Tony had been looking into an alien artifact when it had apparently exploded, so he’s going to need Banner’s help figuring things out. And in his experience, passing all communication with the Avengers through Steve has proven to be the best way to avoid unnecessary confrontation… and collateral damage.

“Director Fury. Has Stark broken something again?” Steve says, half jokingly.

“Afraid I don’t have time for jokes Captain. The artifact Stark was researching detonated in the lab, and it had some… surprising side effects.” Fury informs, a bit harsher than he intended.

“It detonated? Is Tony alright? Was he hurt? And what do you mean by side-effects?” The joking tone is gone from Steve’s voice, and genuine concern and worry replace it.

“He suffered what appears to be some minor abrasions and possibly some bruising, but he’s resisting being taken to medical. Which is most likely due to the side effects. The detonation has turned Stark into a child, no more than four years old at the most, and he thinks we’ve kidnapped him. He knows who he is at least, but doesn’t have any of his adult memories. We managed to corner him in an interrogation room for now, but until we can convince him of who we are…”

“You cornered him?!” Steve practically yells into the phone, “He’s a four year old child, who thinks he’s been kidnapped, and you cornered him?!”

Fury is caught off guard for a moment. The Captain is the most level headed member of the team, and rarely snaps at anyone. And Fury had honestly thought Rogers would be more thrown by the ‘turned into a child’ part of his explanation, than the ‘cornered’ part. But with everything they’ve seen in the last year or so, he supposes none of them are really surprised by strange things happening anymore.

“He kept escaping from my agents while they were trying to get him to medical, and interrogation was the best place to keep him contained.”

“I’m coming up there.” Steve proclaims matter of factly.

“There’s no need for that, Captain. My agents are the best. They’ll talk him around. Then we can set up a room for him while we try and figure out what happened. I need you to contact Banner and have him come up. We’ll need his help to…”

“You are not _seriously_ telling me you’re going to keep him on the carrier? He’s a _child_! A terrified child who thinks you’ve kidnapped him!”

Just then, the door to the interrogation room opens, and the agent Fury left with Stark comes out, holding the screaming four year old.

“No! NO! Let me go!! Stop hurting me! Help! HELP!”

Steve feels his blood begin to boil under his skin, and tendrils of red streak his vision when he hears the small voice on the other end of the phone screaming for help. In the back of his mind he vaguely wonders if this is how Bruce feels right before the Other Guy takes over. His anger should surprise him. In fact, the whole situation should surprise him, but it doesn’t. He doesn’t dwell on his lack of surprise for more than a millisecond, as his mind is more focused on the fact that _Tony_ is being _hurt_. And that’s not something he’s going to tolerate from anyone, not even SHIELD, no matter what strange phenomenon has turned his teammate into a four year old.

“I’m coming to get him. _Now_.” Steve says, his voice low with anger and laced with unspoken threats.

“He’s not actually being hurt, Rogers. One of my agents is just trying to get him to medical…” Fury stops mid-sentence when he hears a distinctive ‘click’ on the other end. He pulls his phone away from his ear and stares at it for a moment in surprise. There are very few people in the world with the balls and lack of self-preservation to hang up on Nick Fury, and he had honestly never thought Steve was the type of person who ever _would_ hang up on a person. He quickly turns on his direct com link to his second-in-command. “Hill. Let security know the Avengers are inbound. They’re coming to get Stark.”

“Are they coming in friendly?” she asks, picking up on the tone of his voice.

“I don’t think they’re coming in hot, but tell the men not to resist them. I’d like my hellicarrier to stay in the sky,” he answers ruefully, knowing first hand just how easy it would be for the superhero team to destroy his airship. “We’ll keep Stark in interrogation for now.”

“Understood.”

***

When Steve comes into the living room in his full Cap gear, minus the helmet, and carrying his shield, the other four Avengers immediately stop watching their movie and give him their full attention.

“Stark’s in trouble. Suit up,” he says in his ‘Captain’ voice.

“What happened? Is he hurt?” Bruce asks worriedly, standing.

“I’ll explain on the jet,” is all the explanation Steve gives before turning and heading for the roof.

When he boards the jet, he is pleasantly unsurprised to see that JARVIS has already started running the pre-flight checks. Initially, the AI’s presence and all-knowingness had been a bit creepy, but he’s grown used to it, and even welcomes it most of the time. The rest of the team joins him shortly. Clint takes the pilot’s seat and finishes the pre-flight checks; Natasha sits next to him, and he can tell that even though her demeanor appears calm, she wants to hit something as much as he does; Bruce has his jaw set in a determined scowl, the look he always wears when he’s trying to keep a lid on the Other Guy; Thor appears as calm as Natasha, though the air crackles a bit when he walks past Steve.

“Destination?” Clint asks once he’s finished his checks.

“The SHIELD hellicarrier,” Steve provides in a clipped voice.

Clint nods and pulls back on the stick, lifting the quinjet effortlessly into the air. It is ominously quiet while Hawkeye heads them in the right direction before turning the controls over to JARVIS and swiveling the pilot’s chair to face the rest of the group.

“As you all probably know,” Steve starts, “SHIELD called Tony in this morning to look at an alien artifact they’d recovered and see if there was any potential for weaponization. It apparently detonated while Stark was working on it. Fury doesn’t think he’s badly hurt, but they haven’t been able to do a medical exam because it… well… it turned Tony into a four year old. A very scared four year old, who doesn’t know who anyone is or where he is, and thinks he’s been kidnapped.”

There is silence for a long moment when Steve pauses to let his team process this information. Thankfully, they recover just as fast as he had (which he supposes shouldn’t be too surprising considering the amount of strange and unexplainable things they’ve all seen in their Avenging line of work.)

“Does he know who _he_ is?” Bruce inquires, always one to get right to the point.

“Fury thinks he does. But they…” Steve takes a deep breath and tries to control his anger, “They cornered him in an interrogation room. JARVIS, play back my conversation with Fury.”

Because they work with a covert shadowy government organization that frequently doesn’t tell them everything, Tony had programmed JARVIS to record any incoming or outgoing calls to SHIELD, encrypted or not. The AI starts the play back immediately. When he hears the small voice calling out for help again, Steve grips his seat so tightly it dents. When the recording is finished playing, Clint turns back to the controls without a word, and pushes the jet to the limits of its acceleration abilities. Bruce takes deep, measured breaths, his skin tinged faintly green, while Thor glares angrily at his hammer, blue streaks dancing around its edges. Natasha pulls out her guns and checks them, flipping off the safeties and making sure they all have a round chambered.

“What’s the plan?” she asks, her voice angrier than Steve can ever remember hearing it.

“We go in, we get Stark, we get out. If we meet resistance, we fight, but try not to kill anyone. I don’t _think_ we’ll have any problems, but it’s better to be prepared,” Steve says. Then his voice quiets, “Clint. I hate to ask this. I know it’s a tough subject, but…”

“I have some. I brought them. One shot and I can take out weapons and navigation systems. She’ll stay airborne, but they’ll be flying dead stick till the engineers can sort them out. Two shots and she falls out of the sky,” Clint answers before Steve can finish asking the question. He doesn’t like talking about what he did under Loki’s control, has in fact threatened to shoot anyone who brings it up, but having a back-up plan incase SHIELD ever turns on them seemed like a good idea.

“Good,” Steve responds before dropping the subject and returning to the explanation of the plan, “Banner. Thor. Once we land, you two stay with the jet. It won’t do us any good to get Stark and then end up grounded. Hawkeye. Widow. You’re with me. You know the carrier better than any of the rest of us. If things do go south…” He takes a deep breath. He knows they can’t go in without a contingency plan, but he’ll never stop hating the need to have one. “Tasha. Stark is the priority. Find him and get him to the jet. If the rest of us aren’t there, leave us and take him to the mansion. We’ll meet up with you later. Anyone have any questions?”

They don’t. As Clint starts their approach, they all set their shoulders, readying themselves for a fight.

***

Thankfully, no one on the SHIELD hellicarrier is brave enough, (or suicidal enough,) to take on the team of angry Avengers. Most of them simply back up against the nearest wall and raise their hands to show they aren’t a threat. The team of three makes their way through the ship until they reach the interrogation rooms. Fury meets them outside one of the doors.

“Don’t suppose there’s any point in trying to talk you down, Captain?” he asks, face unreadable.

“No, Director, I don’t suppose there is,” Steve responds, letting his anger show plainly, “Now, are you going to hand him over, or does this have to get messy?”

Fury raises his hands in mock surrender and steps away from the door. Clint and Tasha take up places on either side of the door, keeping their respective weapons holstered, but they stay ready to draw them at any time. Steve hands his shield to Tasha, and opens the door.

At first, he thinks the room is empty. He’s about to storm back out of the room and start punching down doors, when he hears a soft scuffle from under the table. Slowly, he kneels on the ground and looks underneath. A small boy with big brown eyes stares back at him in fear, knees pulled up to his chest to make himself look as small as possible. There are several visible bruises and a few cuts on his arms and legs, and Steve has to rein in his anger at seeing his teammate, his friend, hurt. Even if he is currently a child.

“Hey there. Are you Tony?” Steve asks in a calming voice.

The little boy nods jerkily and curls even further into himself. Steve smiles and sits all the way on the floor.

“Hi, Tony. My name is Steve. I know you’re scared, but I’m here to take you home now. Would you like that?”

“What happened to the pirate guy?” Tony asks in a quiet voice.

“He’s gone now. I won’t let him, or anyone else, hurt you anymore. I promise.”

Tony glares at him for a moment, looking for the lie. Apparently not finding one, he slowly scoots over towards Steve.

“Your name is Steve?” Tony asks, still glaring slightly.

“Yep. Steve Rogers.”

Tony’s eyes go as big as saucers and Steve suddenly finds his lap full of little boy and tiny hands grip his shoulders tightly.

“Steve _Rogers_?!” Tony squeaks out in tiny, incredulous voice, “Like Captain America?!”

“Yes,” Steve starts, surprised by Tony’s reaction, “I’m Captain America.”

Tony gasps for an exceptionally long time, awe and wonder in his eyes. Steve doesn’t know what to say so he just smiles at the boy.

“You came! I just said that to scare those bad guys, but you actually came!! My dad found you, and you actually came!” Tony throws his arms around Steve’s neck and hugs him tightly.

Startled, Steve hugs Tony back and rubs his back in a comforting gesture. He opens his mouth to tell Tony he’ll always come to get him, when the brunette head suddenly shoots up and nearly clocks Steve in the jaw.

“Do you have the shield?” Tony asks suddenly, turning his head in every direction to find it.

Steve chuckles a little at how similar little Tony is to his adult self, and smiles.

“I do have the shield. But I left it right outside the door with one of my teammates. Would you like to see it?”

“Teammates?” asks Tony, eyeing the door suspiciously.

“That’s right. After I came back, I became a part of a new team. We help keep the world safe from the bad guys.”

“Like the Commandos?!” The excitement is back in Tony’s eyes at Steve’s revelation.

“Just like the Commandos,” responds Steve, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice at the memory of his friends, “Would you like to meet them?”

“Yeah!”

Steve smiles and nods at Tony’s affirmation, and turns his head towards the door.

“Natasha! Clint! Come here for a moment!” Steve calls loudly at the closed door.

It opens quickly and both of them enter, closing the door just as quickly behind them and glancing around the room to see where the danger is. When Steve smiles up at them from the floor, a small boy in his lap, they relax a little and join Steve on the floor. Tasha hands Steve his shield when he reaches for it, and then he holds it out for Tony to see.

Tony reaches out a tentative hand to touch it, looking to Steve for permission. When Steve nods, he lays his little hand on the metal. He pets it lovingly, tracing his fingers around the star in the center.

“Wow,” the brunette finally says, “This is so cool!” After several moments, Tony finally pulls his attention away from the shield and looks at Clint and Natasha. “Are they your new Commandos?”

Clint snorts slightly, but quiets quickly when Tasha smacks him none so gently on the arm. She turns and smiles softly at Tony.

“Hello there, Tony. I’m Natasha. And this guy here is Clint,” she introduces the two of them.

“Hi!” Tony responds enthusiastically, “Do you really help Captain America save the world? What are your super powers? Can you fly? I’ve always wanted to fly. How many bad guys have you stopped? Was it hard?”

“Woah, woah. Slow down, kid,” Clint interrupts with a laugh, “Give us a chance to answer.”

“Why don’t we get you to the jet, and then we’ll answer all your questions, alright?” Tasha interjects, glancing towards the door.

“You have a jet?!”

***

The walk back to the landing dock is just as uneventful as their walk in. Tony clings tightly to Steve’s neck, his face buried in the Captain’s shirt. Steve’s arm supports him from underneath, the other holding the shield in front of him, protecting the boy in his arms. Clint and Tasha flank him, glaring daggers at anyone and everyone until they exit the carrier and see Thor and Bruce standing next to the jet. Clint runs forward to get the jet ready for take off, while Steve hands his shield to Tasha and she goes to stow it away next to the pilot’s seat.

“Is he hurt?” Bruce asks, slowly approaching Steve and his little bundle.

“A bit. Let’s get him on the jet and you can take a look at him,” Steve says before nudging Tony’s shoulder softly, “Tony, this is Dr. Banner. He’s one of my friends. He needs to take a look at those cuts you have, alright?”

Tony turns towards Bruce and looks at him curiously for a moment before nodding. Thor steps over to them and places a hand on Bruce’s shoulder.

“I believe the Hawk has almost completed his checks. We should leave now, before the Director changes his mind,” he states solemnly, eyes continuing to scan the deck for any agents who might decide to challenge them.

“Thor’s right,” Steve agrees, shifting Tony in his arms slightly and heading for the jet, “Let’s get Tony back to the mansion for now. We can figure everything else out later.”

Thor and Bruce follow him, and once Tony has been strapped into the seat next to Steve, Clint takes off and they head for home.


	2. Pancakes and Apples

Normally, when the Avengers are on their way home from a mission, the jet is an extremely quiet place. The types of battles they get called on to fight always leave them drained and exhausted by the time they’re over. This time… is quite a bit different.

At first, Tony sits quietly and patiently while Bruce tends to his injuries, although he reaches for Steve’s hand when Banner takes a blood sample. He answers the questions about his name and birthday, and what the last thing he remembers before being kidnapped was. Much to Bruce’s dismay, his miniaturized friend doesn’t have much to offer in the way of information. And although Tony’s intellect is still in tact, he only has the knowledge he’d had when he was four the first time. None of his adult skills and smarts are present. It’s a bit disheartening, as Bruce isn’t sure he’s up to the task of solving this on his own, and SHIELD is now well out of the question, but he is determined not to let his friend, or his team, down. 

Once the field exam is over, Tony’s silence ends.

“Are you a superhero too, or just a doctor? Do you have powers? Why does the big guy have a hammer? Is this plane really yours? My dad has a plane, but he hasn’t let me ride in it yet. Do you have a secret base? Can I see it?”

Bruce chuckles under his breath and lays a hand on Tony’s shoulder, taking the seat on the other side of his friend.

“I’m a doctor and a superhero. And I turn into an enormous green rage monster when I get angry,” Bruce answers, using the same description Tony had the first time they’d met, “The big guy is Thor, and the hammer is his weapon. He uses it to summon lightning. It’s magic and only he can use it.”

“Cool!” Tony responds, looking at Thor and grinning widely when the demigod tosses the hammer into the air and then catches it deftly.

“As for the secret base, we do have one, of sorts, and you’ll probably get to see it at some point, but for now we’re going to take you home.”

“Oh. Okay,” Tony’s face immediately falls and he stares down at his feet where they dangle off the edge of the seat. “Will you maybe come visit me sometime? You don’t have to though. You guys have to fight the bad guys, so you’ll probably be too busy.”

It isn’t so much the words that make the entire team feel suddenly angry and heartbroken at the same time. It’s the tone of resignation. As though Tony is used to coming second to everything. It makes all of them want to either put their fist through a wall, or pull the boy close and never let him go.

“Tony,” Steve takes the boy’s hand in his, and leans forward in his seat so he can meet his eyes, “You’re coming home with us.”

“Your dad thinks it will be safer, while we try and figure out why those men took you,” Natasha adds suddenly, shocking all the other members of the team. None of them had actually thought about what they were going to tell the boy, who for all intents and purposes is a four year old Tony Stark, whose parents are still alive and well, and would want to know why he is going to stay with Steve and his team instead of being taken home, “But we need to keep where you are a secret, so I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to talk to your parents until we’re certain you won’t be taken again.”

“Really?! I get to stay with Captain America?!” Tony shouts, bouncing up and down in his seat in excitement.

They all smile at him and Steve nods, but in the back of their minds, it hurts to know that at such a young age, going without seeing or speaking to his parents for an extended period of time was such a common experience that it didn’t even register as unusual to Tony. Steve hugs the boy as best he can while still in his seat, and keeps an arm around him until they land safely at the mansion.

***

“This place is _huge_!” Tony exclaims, running from room to room in awe at the mansion’s size, “It’s even bigger than my house!”

“Yeah, it is kind of big. But we all live here and having the space is nice sometimes,” Steve admits, following along behind the boy. He points to a door just down the hallway, “That’s going to be your room up there. Although, the bed is kind of big because it’s usually used by an adult.”

Tony opens the indicated door and looks inside. Steve notices immediately that the boy’s excitement is gone, and kneels by his side, putting a hand on his shoulder worriedly.

“Is something wrong, Tony?” he asks, wondering if he’s upset the boy.

Tony fidgets for a moment, wringing his hands in front of him, before answering.

“Can I… can I sleep with you? I’ll be really quiet, and I won’t touch anything in your room, and I can hide in the closet if those guys try to take me again, and…”

Steve pulls Tony into a hug, silencing his attempts to convince the Captain of the logic behind his request. It’s painfully obvious to Steve that Tony is afraid of being alone, and the look of desperation on his little face nearly breaks Steve’s heart. For a second, he vaguely wonders how he was ever able to say no to the adult Tony, because he knows for a fact that if the tiny one keeps looking at him like that, he’ll never be able to deny him anything. He just hopes it’s not a problem that remains once Tony is an adult again.

“You can stay in my room, Tony. There’s plenty of space, and if those guys do come back, I promise I won’t let them take you,” Steve assures him.

The little body in his arms relaxes a little, and Steve can’t help but pick him up and carry him to his room. He sets Tony on the bed along with his shield, and starts taking off his uniform. Tony watches him, eyes wide. Steve has never had anyone watch him while he undressed, let alone a four year old boy. A four year old boy whose adult self Steve has been secretly crushing on for months, but never found the courage to say anything to. It’s disconcerting to say the least, and Steve can feel himself blushing. But Steve isn’t really sure how to explain his dilemma to the kid, so he just slips into his walk in closet and dresses as quickly as he can. When he comes back out, Tony is trying to pick up his shield and slip it on his arm. He notices Steve before the Captain can say anything, and drops the shield back to the bed as though it’s burned him.

“I’m sorry! I just wanted to look at it. I won’t do it again! I promise! Please don’t kick me out!” Tony blurts out quickly, tears starting to run down his cheeks.

Steve allows himself a second to wish Howard Stark was still alive so he could punch the man through a wall before going to the bed and lifting Tony into his arms and pulling him close.

“No one is going to kick anyone out. You didn’t do anything wrong, Tony. You can look at my shield any time you want, alright? You just have to be careful because it’s kind of heavy and I don’t want you to hurt yourself. But it’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Steve sits in an arm chair in the corner of his room, and settles Tony in his lap.

Tony nods slightly and looks up at him.

“You’re not mad?” he asks cautiously.

“No, Tony. I’m not mad,” Steve assures him with a smile, then changes the subject, “How are you feeling? Do you hurt any where?”

“No, I’m okay,” Tony says before stifling a yawn.

“Why don’t you lay down and rest for a little while. It’s been a long day,” Steve stands and carries Tony over to his large bed.

“Will you stay with me?” Tony asks, eyes drooping with exhaustion.

“Sure.”

Steve pulls back the covers and slides in-between the sheets, smiling when Tony curls up against him and falls asleep almost immediately. He pets the boy’s hair softly, silently promising that no matter what happens, he’ll keep his friend safe.

When Natasha comes by later to check on them, she smiles to herself when she finds them both fast asleep, and closes the door.

***

The next day, Bruce calls Stephen Strange for help in figuring out how to turn Tony back into an adult, and then the two of them sequester themselves in Bruce’s lab. Steve goes for his usual run in the morning, and upon his return, is greeted by the small brunette crashing into his legs as soon as he walks in the door.

“He thought something happened to you when you weren’t there when he woke up,” Clint explains, handing the Captain a towel.

Steve’s heart twinges guiltily. He hadn’t even thought about how Tony would react if he wasn’t there. He gently pries Tony’s arms from his legs and kneels down to apologize to the boy, but Tony has apparently already forgiven him and has much more exciting things he wants to talk about.

“Did you have a good run? Can I go with you next time? Clint told me he shoots a bow just like Robin Hood! And that some of his arrows even _explode_! And then Natasha said that she could take out a bad guy with a toothpick, which is really scary if it’s true, but also kinda cool. And she said that as soon as you got home we could have pancakes for breakfast. Can we?”

Steve isn’t sure he’ll ever get use to little Tony’s excited, fast paced pattern of speech, but his excitement is infectious and Steve smiles.

“Pancakes sound great. I’m gonna go shower first though. Why don’t you go with Clint and start getting everything ready, alright?” Steve proposes, laughing when Tony immediately goes and grabs Clint’s hand, pulling the archer into the kitchen.

“Wait, what? Why me? I can’t cook!” Clint protests, but lets himself be dragged into the kitchen anyway.

Steve showers and dresses quickly, then goes to make the requested pancakes. In hindsight, leaving Clint alone with a child Tony, and expecting them to put pancake ingredients together probably wasn’t the smartest plan Steve’s ever had. When he walks into the kitchen, it looks like it’s been hit with a tornado. A very powerful flour tornado. Both Clint and Tony are covered in flour, having apparently decided that a flour war sounded much more exciting than making pancakes. Natasha is sitting at the dining room table, drinking her coffee and reading the newspaper, trying to hide her smile. Steve gives both Clint and Tony a stern look, then takes the broom from the corner and tosses it at Clint, smirking when Clint looks at him in disbelief after catching it.

“You made the mess, you clean it up. Come on Tony. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Steve holds out his hand towards the boy. He’s still dressed in the adult sized AC/DC shirt he’d been wearing when they’d gone to get him. Steve is almost entirely certain they don’t have any clothes that will actual fit the boy, considering how small he is, but at the very least he needs to change into something that isn’t covered in white powder. Tony runs over to him, leaving a trail of flour behind him.

“How come I have to clean it up?” Clint asks with a pout, “Tony helped make the mess.”

“I’m sure he did,” Steve responds with out skipping a beat as Tony takes his hand, “But Tony is four, and I’m fairly certain you started it.”

Clint has no response to Steve’s assessment of the situation, as it’s correct, and scowls at the flour covered kitchen. As Steve goes to leave the room with Tony, he stops at the table and leans down to whisper to Natasha.

“We need clothes for Tony. He can’t go around in giant tee-shirts forever. Could you run to the store and get a few things?”

Natasha looks up from her paper with a look that clearly wants to know if he has suddenly developed a death wish. He sighs and doesn’t let the look get to him. He’s almost completely certain she’d never _actually_ try to kill him, and he’s _fairly_ confident he could beat her in a fight.

“Bruce is busy. I can’t send Thor. Clint has a kitchen to clean, and can’t be trusted with actually getting things that are appropriate. So, either you run to the store or I do. And if I go, that leaves you giving Tony a bath to get all this flour off of him,” Steve says matter of factly. He knows that her silent refusal to go hadn’t been because she isn’t willing to help. Natasha simply hates shopping in all forms, even when it’s for herself.

With a sigh, Natasha stands and heads for the parking garage. Dealing with a naked, four year old Tony Stark is definitely _not_ on a list of things she ever wants to do.

***

Giving Tony a bath very quickly rockets to the top of Steve’s list of the hardest things he’s ever done. And he once took on an entire Hydra base by himself with nothing more than his shield. He has to refill the tub because the water is apparently ‘boiling,’ ends up chasing the naked boy out into the living room _twice_ , (and he resolutely does _not_ respond to the cackling that comes from the kitchen the second time the boy escapes from Steve’s room,) and has to promise on his shield that he won’t get soap in Tony’s eyes when he washes his hair. Tony is also extremely ticklish, and flails around to get out of Steve’s grasp when the Captain is scrubbing him down to get the flour off of him, which leaves both the bathroom and the exasperated Captain soaking wet. Not to mention the fact that Steve’s never seen the adult Tony naked, (though he thinks about it from time to time when he’s alone in bed,) and is incredibly embarrassed by the entire situation and feels like a horrible voyeur, despite the fact that Tony is currently four, and apparently has exactly zero shame.

By the time Tony is finally clean and wrapped in one of Steve’s soft fluffy blue towels, Natasha has returned from the store with clothing for the boy. Steve groans internally when he opens the bags she hands him, and briefly wonders if he can get away with letting Tony run around in oversized tee-shirts until Bruce can find a way to make him an adult again. The bags are filled with tee-shirts, underwear, socks, pajamas… all Captain America themed. Tony is thrilled and wants to immediately try everything on, while Steve is just grateful the jeans are at least normal, and vows to never send Natasha to the store again as long as he lives. Steve quickly changes out of his soaked clothes and follows Tony into the kitchen, which is thankfully no longer covered in flour. He scowls at Natasha, but she just grins at him in response.

It’s nearly lunch time by the time Steve finishes making the pancakes and sets them on the table. Thor joins them for the meal, and tells a delighted Tony about all the strange and fascinating beasts he’s fought on Asgard. Tony had insisted on hearing about Thor’s home once he’d discovered that Thor was an alien, and had completely stumped the demigod when he’d asked why Thor wasn’t green.

After their breakfast turned lunch, Thor takes Tony out into the backyard for some fresh air, letting the boy ride around on his shoulders and pretend he’s flying. Steve allows himself a moment to sit in the peace and quiet of the living room. His respite is interrupted when Pepper drops by with several boxes.

“Tasha called me this morning and told me what happened. I stopped by one of Tony’s storage lockers and brought over some of the toys and books he had as a child. They should keep him entertained, at least for a few days,” she explains, “Any luck on turning him back?”

“Banner and Strange are both certain the artifact was magical, and Strange is confident he can find a way to reverse it. But they said it’ll take them a few days to figure out how, as the artifact that did this was destroyed when it detonated,” Steve answers, running a hand through his hair as he repeats what Bruce had reported to him just before lunch. He’s barely made it through the first twenty four hours of taking care of tiny Tony, and he’s not sure if he’ll survive for a few more days.

“Well, I have faith in you guys. You’re the closest thing to family he’s ever had. I know you’ll figure it out,” she pats his arm encouragingly then leaves and heads back to work.

The boxes are a godsend. Tony pulls out all his favorites once he and Thor come back inside, and very quickly turns the Avenger’s living room into a giant play room. Steve, Thor and Clint all get roped into playing with him, while Natasha politely declines and sits on the couch to read. They spend the majority of the afternoon building a perfect lego replica of the mansion, complete with quinjet and parking garage, only stopping when Tony’s stomach begins to rumble loudly.

Over their dinner of homemade macaroni and cheese, Tony insists that the team tell him all about the different bad guys they’ve fought. They acquiesce, though they leave out all the gory bits and anything that directly involves Iron Man. Once the meal is over, Natasha shoos Steve out of the kitchen and does the dishes, (which surprises the hell out of Steve, but he doesn’t question it,) and he settles on the couch while Tony picks out a movie to watch before bedtime. He chooses Lilo and Stitch, (so he can show Thor what aliens are _supposed_ to look like,) and then climbs into Steve’s lap to watch.

Putting Tony to bed is surprisingly much easier than giving him a bath. Tony quickly changes into his Captain America pajamas and crawls into bed, letting Steve tuck the covers up around him.

“Aren’t you going to sleep too?” Tony asks quietly when Steve heads for the door.

Steve sits on the side of the bed and runs a gentle hand through Tony’s hair.

“I will in a bit. I need to get some work done first. But I promise I’ll be right here when you wake up in the morning, alright?”

Tony yawns widely, then nods.

“Okay. Good night, Steve. I love you.”

Steve freezes for a moment at the words, trying not to let his shock show on his face. He forces himself to recover quickly, and leans down to give the boy a quick kiss on the forehead.

“I love you too, Tony. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Steve leans heavily against the closed door once he leaves the room, taking long, deep breaths. He knows it isn’t the same as hearing it from the adult Tony, the one he is starting to admit he actually loves, but it still caught him off guard and made his heart skip a couple beats. He just hopes that Tony doesn’t remember anything once he’s turned back, because even though Steve knows and has accepted that Tony will never return the feelings the Captain has for him, Steve couldn’t bear the loss of the other man’s friendship, tentative as it is at times.

Once he’s certain his face has returned to a normal color, and his heart has slowed back down, he joins the rest of the team in the living room. They go over a strategy for how to handle their child teammate, (most of which involves Steve taking care of Tony while the others deal with any problems that arise,) and what to do if they get called to assemble. Steve knows they still have to do their job, but with Tony in his current state, and Bruce busy figuring out how to fix it, the team is down two members. Plus whoever ends up staying to watch over Tony. Clint suggests calling Phil to watch the boy, but the idea is quickly rejected as Coulson lives in San Francisco, and it wouldn’t be fair to call the agent away from his work on the off chance they’d need him to play babysitter for a few hours. Natasha proposes simply leaving Tony and locking down the mansion since Bruce is still there, but Steve worries it will make Tony think he’s being abandoned. And the team immediately vetoes Steve’s plan to let the other three handle whatever fight they get called to while he stays with Tony, and he relents because they’re right. The team can’t very well go into a battle without their leader.

Exhausted, and having made no headway on a course of action, the team decides to call it a night and table the discussion until morning. Natasha goes back to reading her book, Clint’s feet in her lap as he spreads out on the couch, while Steve opens a book of his own and Thor puts on one of the many action movies he’s been working his way through almost systematically. As the movie passes the halfway point, (Thor is mumbling under his breath at the stupidity of the battle strategy the heroes are using, Steve’s eyes are beginning to droop and he catches himself reading the same paragraph for the third time, Clint is asleep and Tasha is starting to look a little tired herself,) they hear tiny running footsteps coming down the hall, just before Tony sprints into the living room at full speed. Before any of them can react, the boy barrels towards the couch.

“Cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiint!” he shouts, diving onto the sleeping archer, and startling the man awake.

“Wha th fu…? Tony?” Clint manages to get out, pressing a hand to his chest and trying to catch his breath when he sees the little boy on top of him.

“Clint! You gotta do the apple trick!” Tony insists, grabbing Clint’s face between his hands and leaning in until his nose is almost touching Hawkeye’s.

“The what now?” asks Clint, still breathing heavily and blinking rapidly as his brain tries to decide whether someone is in danger or not.

“The apple trick! Like William Tell. Where you shoot the apple off the person’s head,” Tony explains in an almost exasperated tone that sounds strange coming from a four year old, “You said you can hit anything! Will you show me the apple trick?”

“Um… sure. I can do that.” Hawkeye responds, mouth a little dry.

“Yes!” Tony exclaims before running back down the hall.

Once Tony is gone, Clint gives Steve a horrified look, his hand shaking as he pulls it out from underneath his leg, a four inch blade clutched in his fist. He drops it to the floor, eyes wide.

“I almost…” he whispers, almost inaudibly.

“But you didn’t, Clint,” Steve assures him, leaning forward and placing a hand on the archer’s ankle, “You didn’t. I’ll talk to Tony and make sure he understands that he can’t jump on people and startle them like that. Especially you and Natasha. Just take a deep breath. You didn’t hurt him, he’s fine.”

Clint nods, laying his head back and taking slow measured breaths. Steve stands to go and talk to Tony, but stops when they hear a rough scraping noise coming from the hall. After a moment, Tony emerges again, dragging Clint’s bow case beside him. Clint jumps up from the couch and vaults over the coffee table, gently taking the case from Tony before he can hurt himself.

“I couldn’t reach any of the ones on the wall, so I brought you this one,” Tony says by way of explanation, then turns to head into the kitchen, but Steve picks him up before he gets very far, “There were some apples on the counter. I saw them when we made pancakes. We’ll need them for the apple trick,” Tony squirms in Steve’s arms for a moment, trying to get down and get the required apples.

“Tony, it’s late. Why aren’t you asleep?” Steve asks, keeping his voice soft, but stern.

“I wan’t really sleepy, so I started reading one of the books you got me, and it had a story about William Tell and how he saved his son by shooting an apple off his head, and it sounded really cool, so I wanted Clint to show me cause he said he could shoot anything and that he never misses,” Tony explains almost sheepishly, wringing his hands.

“That’s true, and it does sound very cool, but it’s very late, Tony, and your body needs sleep. We can ask Clint to show you the apple trick in the morning, alright?” When Tony nods, Steve goes over to stand by Clint, “Now, Tony, you need to apologize to Clint. He was asleep when you ran in, and he could have accidentally hurt you when you jumped on him like that. You scared him. Can you tell him you’re sorry?”

Tony looks at Steve with worry and a little fear in his eyes, before turning to the archer and reaching out his hands for a hug. Clint pulls the boy into his arms and holds him close.

“I’m sorry, Clint. I didn’t mean to scare you. I won’t jump on you when you’re sleeping anymore,” Tony promises, giving Clint a small kiss on the cheek, “Will you still show me the apple trick?”

“Sure, kid. I’ll shoot as many apples as you’d like, okay?” Clint smiles at the boy, showing him that he’s not mad.

“And when you’re done shooting apples, we can make an apple pie out of what ever’s left,” Steve suggests, taking Tony back into his arms.

Tony’s eyes widen at the prospect of getting to see a cool arrow trick, _and_ getting to eat pie. He throws both his fists in the air.

“Tomorrow is gonna be the best day ever!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As far as this story is concerned, Tony and Pepper dated for awhile, but are just friends now.
> 
> If you've never heard the story of William Tell before, go-go-gadet Google and take a look. It's an... interesting story.
> 
> As always, let me know what you thought in the comments!


	3. Assemble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than the others, I'm sorry! But I wanted to get the next chapter posted. Thank you so much for all of the comments and love you have given this story!! It gives me motivation to write more!

”Steve. Steve. Steeeeeeeve.”

A small voice pulls Steve from sleep, and he vaguely feels a tiny hand shaking his shoulder.

“Tony?” he asks, trying to open his eyes. His room is still dark, but the barest hint of light can be seen creeping through the curtains. “What time is it?”

“It’s morning. Can we do the apple trick now?” Tony inquires in an animated whisper.

“Did you actually sleep, Tony?” Steve looks at the clock next to his bed, flopping back down heavily when he sees it’s barely five in the morning.

“I was too excited to sleep,” the small silhouette shakes his head.

Steve wraps a tired arm around the boy and pulls him close, tucking him against his side.

“It’s too early, Tony. Go back to sleep,” he says, closing his eyes.

“No, you said morning! The sun is coming up!” Tony insists, pushing on Steve’s shoulder again. Steve fakes a snore and half way rolls on top of the boy. Tony struggles and wiggles his way out from under the Captain, sitting on his back when Steve finishes rolling onto his stomach. “You gotta get up! You said we could see the apple trick and make pie!” Tony bounces up and down on Steve’s waist, continuing to push on his shoulders.

Steve sits up suddenly, knocking Tony back on the bed, and starts tickling him gently, eliciting squeals of joy from the boy, as he kicks and waves his arms around trying to get away. After a moment, Steve stops, and sets Tony on the floor.

“Alright. Go ahead and get dressed. We can have some breakfast, and then we’ll see if we can get Clint out of bed.

“Woooohoooo!” Tony yells and goes to his pile of clothes, pulling on one of his new shirts and nearly falling over in his excitement.

Steve makes them toast and scrambled eggs for breakfast, stopping Tony when he’s finished and goes to wake Clint.

“No, Tony. Remember what I said last night?” Steve asks, picking Tony up, “You can’t wake Clint up by jumping on him. He has a very dangerous skill set, and if you surprise him, he might hurt you on accident. I’ll wake him up first, then you can jump on him.”

Tony rubs his hands together in a very ‘mad scientist’ gesture, and waits by Clint’s bedroom door, while Steve opens it and calls in.

“Clint! You awake?”

“No. Go away. ’S too early,” comes Clint’s muffled and groggy reply.

Steve nods at Tony, and the boy runs into the room, pouncing on the bed and jumping up and down on it, carefully avoiding feet and legs.

“Clint! Clint! Clint! It’s morning! You said you’d do the apple trick! It’s morning! Time to get up!”

“I’m going to kill Steve,” Clint mutters under his breath pulling a pillow down over his head.

“Only if you can get to him before I do,” Tasha mumbles back.

“Hey Clint! How come Tasha’s sleeping in your room? Is it because you’re married?”

Clint immediately sits up and covers Tony’s mouth with his hand, forcing the kid to stop jumping.

“Shhh! We do not say the ‘M’ word, Tony. It’s a very bad word! Tasha sleeps in here because we’re partners. And sometimes partners sleep in the same room. Okay?”

Tony nods and Clint pulls his hand away.

“So does that make Steve and me partners? Cause I sleep with him!” Tony says loudly, and resumes jumping on the bed.

“Different kind of partners, but yeah. Sure. You and Steve are partners,” Clint agrees, rolling out of bed and throwing on the nearest pair of pants, “Okay, okay, stop jumping. Let me get dressed and get some coffee, alright. Then we can go down to the range and shoot some apples.”

“Hurraaaaaaaaay!” Tony shouts, jumping down from the bed and running out into the hall.

“Tasha?” Clint starts.

“I’m up. Toss me a shirt.”

***

Ever mindful of his creator’s wants and needs, JARVIS had ordered ten bushels of apples from the local farmer’s market that are delivered just as Clint’s pouring his second cup of coffee.

“That’s a… that’s a lot of apples. Just how many of these am I shooting?” Clint asks, looking at the boxes.

“All of them!” Tony exclaims happily.

“If he shoots all of them, there won’t be any left for pie,” Steve reminds the boy.

“All of them, except for the ones we need for pie!” Tony amends.

They carry the boxes down to the shooting range, and while Clint picks out a bow from the wall, Tony picks out several apples and runs to the far wall, placing one on his head.

“I’m ready, Clint!” he announces, holding perfectly still.

Clint looks at him and balks a little.

“Um… just a sec, kay?” he says, trepidation in his voice. He goes over to where Steve and Tasha are leaning against the wall by the door. “I can’t do this,” he admits in a whisper.

“Why not? I’ve seen you hit smaller targets from much farther away. And some of those shots nearly missed one of the team,” Steve inquires, eyebrows raised at Clint’s statement.

“But what if… what if he changes back? Then he’ll have an arrow in his chest, and I’m pretty sure that’s bad for his health,” Clint counters.

Steve sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

“Well, you can’t back out of showing him. Could you do it if one of us balances the apple?” Steve suggests.

Clint nods, and Natasha immediately goes over to where Tony is still standing against the back wall. She kneels in front of him, taking one of his small hands in hers.

“Tony, Clint thinks you’ll enjoy the trick more if you watch it. And you can’t really see it if you’re the one with the apple. So I’m going to put the apple on my head while you watch from over by Steve,” Natasha informs the boy, plucking the apple from his head.

“Okay!”

Tony runs over to where Steve is standing, and Clint nocks an arrow. Once Natasha has the apple balanced and is holding still, he lets the arrow fly, and it hits the apple dead center, chunks flying in every direction. Tony whoops with joy and bounces up and down, tugging on Steve’s shirt.

“Steve! Did you see that?! It went right through the middle, like ‘bam’!”

“I did. It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Steve agrees, smiling down at the boy.

“Do it again! Do it again!” Tony insists, and Steve tosses Natasha another apple.

They stay in the archery range for most of the morning. Tony begs to be allowed to hold an apple while Clint shoots it, and that archer finally agrees to let him hold it in his hand, his arm out to his side. He practically shrieks with joy when the apple shatters in his hand as the arrow hits it. Eventually, Clint moves from just shooting the apples, to performing every trick shot he knows. He has Tasha toss one in the air, then she and Steve toss one at the same time. Then he has them each put one on their heads and hits them both simultaneously. Then Natasha picks up one of the destroyed pieces and has Clint shoot that off her hand. She continues picking up smaller and smaller pieces, until the shot would actually put her hand at risk of being hit. When they finally put an end to the fun, the entire range is covered in mutilated apple pieces, with arrows sticking out of the walls making the room resemble a pin cushion, and there is only one box of apples remaining. Steve sets Tony on top of the box and gives him a ride upstairs, while Clint puts away his bow and arrows, and Natasha goes to shower off the practical applesauce the adventure has left her covered in.

Steve lays out all of the pie ingredients on the counter, and very carefully instructs Tony on how to use the apple corer to cut and core the apples. He lets Tony help him mix the spices together, and has to keep himself from laughing when Tony has a sneezing fit because he dumped the cinnamon in too quickly. They use a cookie cutter in the shape of the Captain’s shield (a gag gift from Tony himself a few weeks after New York) to make the design in one of the pies, and a heart for the other. While the pies cook, Steve puts on Finding Nemo, and they cuddle up on the couch to watch the movie.

The pies are barely out of the oven and sitting on their cooling racks when the assemble alarm activates, startling Tony so badly he runs into the pantry and hides. Steve quickly deactivates the alarm and opens the door to let Tony know everything is alright. By the time he’s convinced the boy that the bad guys have _not_ come to take him, Clint, Natasha, and Thor have joined him in the kitchen already in their gear.

“Who will be staying with our young friend?” Thor inquires of the team.

Steve looks at each of them in turn, but before he can make a decision, Clint sighs heavily and lays his bow on the table and begins unbuckling his quiver.

“Clint, you don’t have to be the one to…” Steve starts, trying to think up an argument against having Clint stay that the archer will believe and accept.

“Of the two people on this team you can _actually_ do without, I’m the obvious choice to stay over Tasha. And before you start going off about how I’m important to the team and all that mushy, feely stuff, I came to terms with being the weakest member of this team about thirty seconds after I joined it. You guys can handle one mission without me, and someone has to stay with Tony. End of story. Now go. Save the world. We’ll be fine.”

Clint’s argument is valid, and they all know it. So they don’t try and fight it. If Clint says everything’s fine, then it is. Steve nods once and goes to get his uniform, while Thor and Natasha head for the jet. Before they leave, Steve goes back to the kitchen and picks Tony up, pulling him into an enormous hug.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promises in a whisper, “You be good for Clint, and as soon as I get home, we’ll eat pie, and I’ll make you anything you want for dinner, alright?”

Tony nods shortly, burying his face in the Captain’s neck.

“Be safe,” Tony says quietly when Steve finally sets him down.

“I will. I promise.”

Steve takes Tony by the hand and heads for the roof, glancing back to make sure Clint is following them. He waves to Tony from the open back door until Natasha takes off. Once the team is gone, Clint crouches next to Tony, who is wiping away tears from his cheek.

“Hey, you don’t need to worry about them. That’s Captain America remember? He’s the best superhero out there, and he always comes home safe,” Clint assures the boy, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Tony flings his arms around the archer’s neck and cries quietly for a moment. Clint lets him, petting his hair and whispering soothing words to try and calm him. After a moment, Tony pulls away and lets Clint take his hand and lead him inside.

They watch a movie for a little while, but Tony quickly tires of it, so Clint goes to the large cabinet by the TV to see if there’s a video game he can interest the boy in. When he turns back with Mario Kart in his hand, Tony is gone. Clint has a moment of panic, before he hears a sound from the kitchen. He forces himself to walk at a normal pace into the next room, stopping dead in his tracks at what he sees.

Tony is sitting at the kitchen table, his tool box sitting open next to him. Clint’s bow (which he had left there when he’d volunteered to stay with Tony,) is laying in pieces all over the table’s surface. When Tony see’s Clint he smiles broadly.

“I noticed this morning that the string catches a bit when you draw it all the way back. And I was thinking about how I could fix it. I think I have an idea, and I thought I’d try it out and see if it works,” Tony explains, pulling yet another piece of the bow apart.

Clint’s mind very rapidly goes through the five stages of grief, plus some other emotions thrown in for good measure. The main contenders are shock and anger, and it’s a close tie for dominance. But Steve had informed them of how Tony had reacted when Steve had caught him looking at the shield, so Clint resolutely pushes the anger aside. Hawk had also noticed his string catching when he’d been using the bow that morning, but having years of experience with archery, he knew that all that was needed was to replace the string. Not to mention that fact that _this_ bow, which Tony has now taken completely apart, is _not_ the bow he’d been using on the apples earlier. They look deceptively similar, but one is for practice, while the other is for combat. Clint drops into one of the kitchen chairs, folding his arms on top of the table and letting his head drop onto them.

“Tony, listen,” Clint starts, voice muffled, “That’s not the bow I was using this morning. I was using a practice bow. And while I appreciate the sentiment, you should have asked before you took my entire bow apart. It’ll take several days to recalibrate it so that it doesn’t snap on me during a mission,” he sits up and looks at Tony, feeling slightly guilty at the scared look on the boy’s face.

“I’m sorry! I thought they were the same bow! I didn’t mean to destroy it. I’ll put it back together, and it’ll work perfect! I was just trying to help, cause everyone’s been so nice to me, and you saved me from the bad guys on that flying ship, so I wanted to show you how happy I am that you let me stay with you, and I didn’t mean to break anything! Please don’t be mad! I don’t want to go back home! I want to stay here with you and Tasha and Thor and S-steve! Nobody will talk to me at my house, but you guys talk to me all the time, and you play with me, and Steve makes me food, and lets me sleep in his room, and you don’t make me sit in the corner cause I don’t know the answer to something yet, and I’m really sorry! I won’t do it ever, ever again! Please don’t make me leave!”

Tony curls in on himself, pulling his knees to his chest and clutching his screwdriver tightly. Clint feels like the worst human being in existence, and he desperately hopes Howard Stark is rotting in hell. He reaches out a hand and sets it on Tony’s knee.

“Hey. I’m not mad, okay? I promise. And you can stay here as long as you like. We’ll just tell your dad it’s not safe to come home, and you can live here for the rest of ever, kay? And I’m sure your idea is going to work. So why don’t we go get the bow I used on the apples, and you can show me how you were thinking of fixing the string?”

Tony nods shortly, putting his tools away and giving the archer a huge hug before letting himself be led down to the archery range. Hawk takes the bow in question down from the wall and hands it to Tony, sitting next to him and handing the boy the appropriate tool when he asks for it. It takes them several hours, but Tony finally finishes applying his changes to the bow, and Clint is impressed when he pulls back and the old string doesn’t catch anymore. He makes a mental note to have the adult Tony make the same changes to all his other bows once he’s back to normal.

Once both bows are fixed, Clint offers the video game as an option for what to do next, and Tony readily, and ecstatically, agrees. When the team walks back through the door, they find Clint and Tony, sitting on the floor of the living room, a digital tally board showing them tied five and five for first place. They are neck and neck on the last lap of Rainbow Road, and so engrossed in their game, they don’t notice that everyone is back until Steve clears his throat loudly.

“Steeeeeeeeeeve! You came back!” Tony shouts, dropping his controller and practically launching himself at the Captain, “Guess what we did? We watched a movie, and then we fixed Clint’s bow cause it was kind of broken, and then I put the other one back together caused I got them mixed up and took the wrong one apart. But Clint wasn’t mad, and he said I could live with you guy forever and ever! Then we played this fun racing game where you throw turtles at people, and we’re tied for first place! Come play with us! Come play!!” Tony insists, pulling on Steve’s hand.

“Looks like you guys had a lot of fun,” he comments as he sits and takes the controller Tony hands him.

“It had its moments,” Clint agrees, starting the race over and adding a tally slot for Steve, and then others for Natasha and Thor when they grab controllers as well. Tony ends up winning the little spur of the moment racing tournament, to exactly no one’s surprise. Steve caves to Tony’s desire to have pizza for dinner, and they each make their own individual pizzas, choosing their own toppings. By the time dinner is over, it’s almost time for bed. Steve gives Tony a bath, with much less muss and fuss this time, and reads him a few books before they turn in for the night. Bruce greets him when he returns to the living room, a large smile on his face.

“We figured it out. Stephen had to go grab a few things from one of the sanctums, but then we should be able to turn him back to himself,” Bruce informs them happily.

Steve smiles at Banner’s news, but his heart feels sick at the news. He was going to miss the boy, and how easily he’d gotten along with him. Not that he wouldn’t be glad to have Iron Man back on the team, but while Tony was small, Steve was able to show his affection for him, platonic as it is, without fear of being rejected. Once he goes back to normal… Steve doesn’t want to think about what will happen. If he doesn’t remember, it will hopefully be business as usual. If he does… Steve is certain he will lose any chance of friendship he ever had with the man. He nods at Bruce.

“Glad to hear it. I’m going to go sit with him, make sure there aren’t any immediate side effects. Go ahead and do what you need to whenever Strange gets back and you’re ready,” says Steve, turning and heading back to his room before anyone can say anything.

He creeps into his room and shucks off his outer layer of clothing, slipping into his pajama pants and a sleep shirt. He gently helps the half-asleep Tony out of his pajamas and into on of the Captain’s shirts, not wanting him to wake up being strangled by too small of clothing. Then he slips under the covers and pulls the boy close, pressing several kisses to the top of his head.

“I love you, Tony,” he whispers, hoping beyond hope that at least the memory of his words will stay with the man he loves. Then he relaxes and joins the boy in sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... here we leave Tiny Tony behind and venture forward with Stoney. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you enjoy what's to come! Please leave me a comment and let me know what you thought!


	4. Revelations

Steve wakes very suddenly when a heavy weight pushes down on his chest. He opens his eyes and sees Tony, back to his normal size, sleeping on top of him. Tony stirs slightly, blinking up at Steve in confusion.

“Hey, go back to sleep,” Steve says softly, “Everything’s fine.”

Tony drops his head back onto Steve’s chest and immediately falls back to sleep. Steve lets out a breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding. He knows it’s selfish of him, that he should wake Tony up and help him back to his own room, but he’s dreamed of feeling Tony’s body pressed up against his for so long… he just wants to make the moment last as long as possible. And in the morning, he can claim that neither of them woke up when he returned to normal, and they can both put the fact that they cuddled behind them. Well… Tony can put it behind him. Steve knows he’s going to cherish this moment for as long as he lives.

He gently brushes Tony’s hair out of his face, reveling in the look of peace on the so often stressed features. He remembers the first time they’d met, how they’d done almost nothing but fight for the first month they’d known each other. Then he remembers coming downstairs for breakfast one morning and seeing Tony sitting at the bar in his boxers eating cereal and drinking his morning coffee. His heart had skipped several beats, and for a moment, Steve had thought he was going crazy, that he was just touched deprived, so seeing that much skin had brought his distinctive lack of human comfort to the forefront of his mind. Then it had happened again when Tony had started rambling about some new feature he was adding to his next suit. And they’d both been fully clothed then. It had taken the regression incident for him to finally admit to himself how he felt about the other man, and now… he doesn’t know what to do with those feelings. He wraps his arms a little tighter around Tony.

“I love you, Tony,” he whispers, voice barely audible, “I have for awhile now. I just didn’t realize how much until I almost lost you. Well, the adult you. This you. I didn’t know how to tell you. Still don’t. I’m terrified that if you knew, that our friendship would be over, and I couldn’t bare that. Everything is still so new, so foreign to me. Having you here… it grounds me, in a way. Makes me feel like I’m not alone anymore. If I lost that… I honestly don’t know what I’d do. I need you, Tony. More than _I_ even realized. I wish I were brave enough to tell you this when you’re awake. Maybe someday.”

“You really are just a giant teddy bear full of sap and mush, aren’t you?” Tony asks suddenly, causing Steve to flinch and yank his hands away from the man.

“Y-you’re awake? You… you heard me?” Steve asks, terrified of the answer.

“I heard you. Every word. And you know…” Tony sits up and flips on the light next to the bed, looking down at Steve, his face unreadable, “I’m not really sure what to say. I _should_ go on a tirade about boundaries, and team fraternization, and about how I’m not gay, and about how creepy it is that you realized all this while I was _four_. Although those few days are an entirely different tirade that needs going on. Yes, I remember. Yes, I’m embarrassed. Yes, I’m touched that you stormed the hellicarrier to save me from SHIELD. Yes, I was obsessed with Captain America when I was a kid. My dad helped create you, so it’s only natural. Yes, my dad was an incredibly neglectful asshole who cared more about finding you than he did about caring for his own kid. But I’m not going to go on either of those tirades, you know why?”

Steve shakes his head, hands raised slightly at his side, though whether it’s in defense or surrender, he has no idea. Tony sighs and drops back down, laying his head on Steve’s chest and pulling the covers up to cover them.

“Because I feel the same way. Have for awhile. First time I saw you in that spangly outfit of yours, thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. I shrugged it off as my childhood hero worship rearing its ugly head. Then I saw you come out of the shower one time, towel wrapped around your hips, water dripping down that perfect body of yours… and it wasn’t my chest that felt too tight that time. So while I _should_ be going on a tirade, trying to save what little dignity I have left, I won’t. Cause I value our friendship too. And… if it works out… I’d like to maybe explore the possibility of there being something more.”

Steve is silent for an incredibly long period of time. He blinks rapidly, trying to decide if he’s actual awake or not. He’d spent so long wishing that Tony could or _would_ return his feelings, that now that he has… he doesn’t know what to say. Or do for that matter. Gently, cautiously, as though Tony will bolt and run screaming from his room if he moves too fast, Steve raises a hand and runs his fingers along Tony’s cheek.

“You never… why didn’t you say anything?” Steve asks, still trying to wrap his mind around what Tony’s just told him.

“I could ask you the same question!” Tony says a bit heatedly, though Steve can tell there’s no real malice behind his words. Tony runs his hands along Steve’s chest, drawing indiscernible patterns.

“Of the two of us, who is the most likely to talk about something they’re thinking or feeling?” Steve says with a slight smirk, moving his hands to pet Tony’s hair.

“In all honesty, you,” Tony replies, his answer startling Steve slightly, “I rarely talk about what I _actually_ feel. I talk about what I think all the time, but feelings… I epically suck at those. Plus, I… was trying to pretend to myself that what I was feeling wasn’t real, you know? You’re from the forties for godsake! Having feelings… like this… for another guy… wasn’t really kosher back then. Still isn’t as kosher as it should be. So I tried to deny it. Told myself it was just friendship, and hero worship, and seriously, you’d have to be a blind person not to appreciate how perfect and beautiful your body is. And I made excuses. Went on missions with you when you could have handled it fine on your own. Touched you when I didn’t need to. Hell, I faked being asleep a few minutes ago, just so I’d have an excuse to keep snuggling up against you. Figured you’d be fine with it, since I was four ten minutes ago, and then we’d brush it off in the morning, and forget about it. But then you started talking…”

“Wait a minute,” Steve stops Tony’s long winded explanation, “You faked being asleep just so you could cuddle with me for a few more hours? And all those times you insisted on going on a mission with me, you complained the entire time about how boring it was, and you didn’t need to be there!”

“Of course I complained!” Tony defends himself, puffing out air and cuddling closer, hoping Steve doesn't decide to pull away, “I didn’t want you to suspect how I felt. I was denying I was feeling it myself. If you had confronted me then, I would have backed so far into the closet, I would have been in Narnia.”

“Narnia?” Steve asks, suddenly very confused and wondering what part of the conversation he’s missed, “Where’s Narnia? And what does a closet have to do with it?”

“I… you…” Tony starts, sitting up slightly and staring at the Captain incredulously for a moment, before sinking back down, “That’s it. You are taking a month long vacation, and you are going to read and watch everything you need to know to get caught up on at least twentieth century references. We can work on the twenty first century a different month.”

Steve laughs and kisses the top of Tony’s head fondly.

“Okay. I assume you mean you would have run away from the conversation and gone even further into your denial?” Steve asks, hoping his contextual assumption is correct.

“Yes. So, honestly… I’m glad neither of us said anything. If you had… bad things would have happened, and we would have never ended up where we are now. And if I had… well I wouldn’t have. Really kind of thought you still didn’t even like me until you told mini-me I could sleep in your room,” Tony comments, a little under his breath.

“Wait, were you in there? In your four year old head?” Steve asks, trying to look in Tony’s eyes, but Tony is looking down at their feet.

“No. That would have been terrifying,” Tony shudders a bit, and Steve pulls him closer, “I mean, when I woke up as normal sized me and remembered it. You should have told me no. Mini-me expected you to say no. But you didn’t. You let me share your room, and run around in clothes with your shield printed on them. You cared about me. And you didn’t have to. You could have left me with SHIELD. They would have called in Banner, who would have called in Strange, who I now probably owe a favor to, goody, and I would have been put back to normal. But you didn’t. And that… I don’t actually have words for how much that means to me,” Steve opens his mouth to say something, but Tony quickly covers it, not finished, “I realize you probably would have done the same if any of the other members of the team had been hit, but that’s sort of my point. The fact that you saw me as a member of the team… made me realize how stupid I’d been, denying my feelings. I had already told myself I was going to tell you soon when you started talking. It might not have been for a few week, but I was going to tell you.”

They sit in silence for several minutes, Tony still rubbing circles on Steve’s chest, while Steve pets his hair, and rubs his hand along Tony’s back. After a while has passed, Steve finally speaks.

“I think… I’m glad we didn’t talk about it before as well. I don’t know how well I would have received the information, because I was denying it just as hard as you were. Though not for the reasons you think. My main problem was the whole being the team leader thing. If we do decide to act on these feelings, and I’d very much like to, it can’t affect our work,” Steve says seriously.

“I think I can still manage to call you out when you make a crappy call, or complain about everything in sight,” Tony quips back, “Though, I’m fairly certain that keeping it a secret is out of the question. Our master assassin teammates are also master spy teammates. And I know for a fact they’d bring it up. Probably over a family dinner.”

“Most likely,” Steve chuckles warmly, “Speaking of them, do you have any idea how lucky you are to be alive right now?”

“Oh god…” Tony turns and buries his face in Steve’s shirt, “How close did Clint come to killing me that night?”

“Pretty close. Milliseconds probably. He pulled out his knife and dropped it like a hot cake right after you left. Scared him half to death.”

Steve’s chest rumbles as he laughs at the memory, and Tony feels warmth starting to pool in his groin at both the sound, and the sensation of Steve beneath him. Situated as they are, Steve can’t help but notice. He clears his throat suddenly, trying not to shift and make Tony’s problem worse.

“I don’t mind if the team knows. But if it bothers you, I’m sure a well placed word in the right ear would keep Clint silent on the matter. Unless you’re thinking you don’t want to try a relationship…”

“NO!” Tony shouts, sitting up and pressing his palms against Steve’s shoulders, “That’s not what I meant. I just meant that we should probably just be up front with the team about it. If we… you know… do this. And I _do_ want to. Do this, I mean.”

“So do I,” Steve agrees, sliding his hand a little lower down Tony’s back, till it rests on the curve of his hip, and Tony has to strain not to arch into the touch, “Very much.”

“Well, that’s…” Tony’s voice hitches a bit when Steve’s hand keep sliding down, “That’s good then. Do you want to… now?” Tony asks, finally giving in and arching his back as Steve’s hand finally slides over his bare ass, and down to his thigh.

“Do you?” Steve asks back, stopping his hand’s movement, and looking searchingly into Tony’s eyes.

Tony just nods, sliding his own hand down Steve’s front until he reaches the waist band of his sleep pants. Deftly, and as easily as plucking a dandelion, Steve flips them over, so that Tony is laying beneath him. He presses his hands into Tony’s shoulder’s, and a groan of need escapes Tony’s lips. Steve removes his hands, apology written clearly on his face.

“Sorry. I forget how strong I am sometimes. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Didn’t… hnngh… didn’t hurt me,” Tony stutters out, his erection very suddenly and painfully making its presence known. “Besides. I kind of… um… get off on… the whole idea.”

“What idea?” Steve asks, confused.

“The idea that… you could… well of you… of you holding me down… while we… do… things…” Tony gasps out, his body aching to be touched, “I know you won’t… you know… _actually_ hurt me, but it’s kind of thrilling to feel powerless underneath you,” Tony can feel his face turning a million different shades of red as he speaks, hoping his admission won’t ruin the mood, or Steve’s desire to have sex with him. Which he fervently hopes is going to happen. Soon.

Steve smiles a decidedly evil smile and puts his hands back on Tony’s shoulders, pinning him to the bed with a salacious grin that could melt steel. He doesn’t respond, just leans down and kisses Tony, hard and dirty. It’s everything Tony has ever wanted or dreamed of kissing Steve to be. It’s full of passion and heat, with just the barest undertone of warmth and caring. Steve licks along the seal of his lips, as though asking for permission. Tony opens his mouth just a sliver, and Steve takes it the rest of the way, forcing his way in, twirling their tongues together, sucking Tony’s bottom lip into his mouth, and nipping at it ever so slightly.

When Steve finally pulls away from the kiss, they are both left breathless, unable to do anything more than stare into each other’s eyes for a moment while they catch their breaths. Steve lets his hand slide up underneath the too-large shirt Tony’s wearing, and ghosts his fingers over Tony’s sensitive nipples, purposefully avoiding where he knows Tony wants to be touched. He leans down and kisses him again, then proceeds to kiss down his jaw and on down his neck, stopping momentarily when he finds a sensitive spot, and sucking gently, leaving little bruises in his wake. Tony arches into each kiss, whimpering in pleasure each time Steve leaves a mark.

Deciding that the shirt is in the way, Steve quickly helps Tony out of it, then looks down at him in the soft light from the lamp, admiring his body. Where Steve is made almost entirely of muscle, Tony is lean and taught. To the untrained eye, his body doesn't look like one of a battle hardened warrior, but Steve's eye is anything by untrained. He watches the way the muscles move under Tony's skin, revealing in the feel of them under his fingers. He traces the scars on Tony's chest, memorizing each one, wondering where they all came from. He knows the ones around the reactor are from when he'd been kidnapped, and he makes a silent vow to make sure that no one is ever able to hurt Tony that way again.

"You're making me self-conscious, staring like that," Tony mutters, looking away from the Captain's penetrating gaze, "Not fair that I'm the only one naked here."

"You're right," Steve says with another smile, and Tony feels like his chest is going to implode if Steve keeps looking at him like that.

Slowly, almost like he's putting on a show, Steve pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it in a random direction, not really caring where it lands. His sleep pants are tight, and his own erection clearly strains against the fabric, outlining his impressive bulge. Steve lays down next to Tony, shucking his pants and boxers quickly and efficiently. Tony sits up and stares at him for several long moments, looking him up and down, gulping audibly at what he sees.

"You're... a lot bigger than I imagined you'd be..." Tony comments, his mouth going a little dry at the sheer size of the man in front of him. He'd expected him to be big, but this... is a lot more than just big, "I... I don't know if you'll be able to fit... inside of me. I've never done this before. With another man, I mean."

"Well," Steve starts, looking down at himself with a shy grin, "My muscles weren't the only things that grew with the serum," he looks back up at Tony, "I guess... if you want... I could be the one on the bottom... so to speak...?"

"No! No," Tony says vehemently, "That's... not what I want. But I think we might need to... wait to... until I can prepare myself a little better. Besides, I don't think we have any lube anyway."

Steve nods in agreement and understanding. He'd been just as shocked as Tony the first time he'd taken off his clothes and really looked at himself. He reaches to pull the covers up over them, but a hand on his wrist stops him.

"We could still... get each other off...." suggests Tony, hope in his eyes.

Steve moves his hand and reaches for Tony's cock instead. As soon as he wraps his hand around him, Tony moans in pleasure and falls back to the bed, eyelids fluttering. With slow, gentle movements, Steve runs his hand up and down Tony's length, drinking in the sight of Tony coming unhinged beside him. As aroused as he is, and with the skillful way Steve moves his hand, it doesn't take Tony very long to finish, and within less than a minute he's arching his back even further than before, calling out Steve's name in a nearly breathless scream.

Once his heart rate returns to something resembling normal, Tony returns the favor, and Steve pulls him close as he nears his own completion, whispering words of love into Tony's ear as he paints the sheets white between them.

They both fall asleep soon after, wrapped in each other's arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked! Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought!
> 
> And don't worry. There's more to come!


	5. Size Matters

Clint is at the archery range the next morning, when Steve comes in and sits on one of the benches. Expecting a conversation, Clint turns to the Captain, but when he doesn't say anything, Hawk shrugs and goes back to his practice. After several minutes of silence, Clint lowers his bow.

"Is he back to normal? Or is he still a kid?" Clint asks, almost hoping Tony is still a child so they can have more fun.

"He's himself again," Steve informs Clint in a brusk voice, "And he remembers everything that happened while he was young, so he might be a little distant for a few days. Try not to tease him too much."

"Wasn't gonna tease him at all," Clint comments amiably, nocking another arrow and aiming at his chosen target, "I know if I got turned into a kid and the whole tam found out about my stellar childhood, I'd probably be more than a little distant."

Steve wants to ask, but he also doesn't want to pry. If Clint actually wanted to talk about his past, he would. The silence once again fills the room, but it's more comfortable now, with Steve watching Clint take his shots, noticing for the first time that Clint doesn't take more than a second at most to line up his shot. Almost as though he's doing his aiming before he even pulls the next arrow out of his quiver. Steve know he's stalling, watching Clint practice, but the very idea of the conversation he came down to have with the archer makes his face turn a bright red.

"You feeling alright there, Cap?" Clint asks him suddenly as he looses his next arrow, "You look like an over ripe tomato. Something you want to talk about?"

"I... it's..." Steve starts, trying to both find the words and the courage to say them, "Tony and I have... decided to... start a relationship," he says finally.

"The friendly kind or the sexy kind?" Clint inquires without missing a beat.

Steve buries his head in his hands and takes a deep breath.

"The sexy kind," he answers, voice muffled.

"Bout damn time," responds Clint, causing Steve's head to shoot up with a look of incredulous surprise plastered on his face, "You two have been dancing around each other for months. We even had a bet going to see how long it would take you two to get together. Looks like Tasha won. She bet it would take some catastrophic, life altering event for you two to pull your heads out of your asses. I had my money on Valentine's Day. Makes people do weird things. Anyway, I'm glad you guys figured it out. Really was painful watching you watch each other when you thought no one was looking."

"Wait a minute!" Steve practically shouts, standing and continuing to stare at Clint, "You... all of you knew we liked each other?! What... how...?"

"First of all, Tasha and I are spies. Well... _were_ spies. We're trained to notice those sorts of things. Second of all... you really thought you were being sneaky? Cause, I've got to tell you... you both _suck_ at sneaky. The only people who _didn't_ know you two have the hots for each other was the two of you. Everyone else's known probably since the beginning. Couple of us even wanted to intervene a few times, but you both looked like you'd run the moment someone said anything, so we opted to leave you alone and make bets instead."

"I can't believe this!" Steve says, collapsing back on the bench, and banging his head back against the wall, "I've been trying to figure out how to tell the team all morning, and now I find out they already _knew_? I can't believe this."

"Sorry, man. You're gonna have to be a lot better than that if you want to keep a secret in this house," Clint replies with a slight chuckle, going back to his practice.

Steve allows himself a few moments to brood about his team making bets on his love life, before straightening and moving on to the next item on his 'talk to Clint about this' agenda. And the second topic is even harder to broach than the first. But with how easily Clint had accepted the news of Steve and Tony finally being together, (which he was honestly more concerned about the 'being teammates' part of the equation than the 'being with another man' part, as Clint himself is dating not only Natasha, but Phil Coulson as well, which is the reason Steve has decided to go to the archer for advice,) he figures he might as well go for broke, and takes another deep breath to steel himself.

"How do two guys have sex?" he asks suddenly, the question startling Clint with its left-fieldness so much that he misses his next shot altogether and the arrow ends up sticking out of a light in the ceiling.

"How does who do what now?" Clint asks, turning to give the Captain his full attention.

"How do two guys have sex?" Steve repeats, refusing to meet Hawk's eyes.

Clint stares at him in shock for a full minute before setting his bow and quiver on the table and sitting on the bench next to Steve.

"Insert peg B into slot A," Clint responds with a smirk. Steve glares at him, "Okay, okay. That much was obvious. It's not really all that much different from having sex with a girl. Except the 'slot' is smaller and less stretchy, so you need a lot of lube and prep work first. Fingers usually do the trick, though Phil and I have used small toys sometimes. Most people would recommend that you use a condom, safe sex and all that bit. But as long as you're both clean, and don't mind the cleanup, there's no chance of pregnancy, so only use one if you really want to. I don't like them personally. I prefer the skin on skin sensation. Makes it more intense for me."

Steve groans and buries his head back in his hands, wishing fervently that he didn't know any of this information about Clint's sex life.

"You asked," comes the archer's response, coupled with a laugh, "I think the rest is pretty self explanatory. Insert, thrust, finish. Wash, rinse, repeat. As often as possible, if you're me. But why are you asking me about this instead of talking to Tony? Surely he, with his unlimited internet access, knows all this already."

"He... it's complicated. I think he's afraid of my... of my size," Steve says in a low, almost inaudible voice.

"Always did wonder if the serum made all of you bigger. I take it your size is... significant?" Clint asks, no hint of teasing in his voice, understanding how difficult this conversation is for the Captain, and honestly wanting to help his two friends figure things out. Steve nods. Clint puffs out a breath of air, thinking of the best way to answer, "Okay, there's a couple of options. You could start with a set of toys that get bigger in increments, and work your way up to actual penetration, or... and I think this is the better option, you could use _a lot_ of lube, prep up to four fingers, and then push past the initial pain. Tony strikes me as the kind of guy that would enjoy some pain during sex, and even though he'll probably _feel_ like he's being torn in half, if you prep him right, and use lube, you won't damage him. Check when you're done, though, just to make sure nothing ripped, but the human body is a lot more accommodating than people think it is. And once you've done it a few times, his body will get a lot more use to the intrusion. That doesn't mean you don't have to do the prep, because I have a feeling that'll always be necessary, but mentally he won't worry about tearing anymore. Does that help? Cause you look like you're about to split a seam," Clint comments with a half laugh at the expression on Steve's face.

"Yes. It helps. Thank you," Steve manages to smile credibly at the archer, "Can we just pretend this conversation never happened?"

"What conversation?" Clint responds, standing and going back to the table to pick up his bow.

Steve stands as well and turns to leave. As he reaches the door way, he stops for a moment.

"Thank you, Clint. Really," he says, grateful for the assistance, awkward as it was for him.

"No problem. Have fun!"

***

Tony spends the better part of the day locked in his office and resolutely ignoring his entire team. None of them have mentioned his childhood adventure the few times he's seen them, and he did make sure to swing by Bruce's lab and thank him for his help in turning him back, promising the other genius that he would call Stephen and do the same. Instead of tinkering with new suit designs or working on the pile of projects sitting on his desk, Tony searches the internet for advice on dealing with a partner that is of significant size. Unfortunately, most of what he finds is either for straight couples, or contains images that are far too graphic for his innocent mind. And the images scare him. A lot. Now worried about stretching out so much his anus will never close again, Tony takes a deep breath and goes to talk to the one person in the mansion that has actual real world experience with the act. He finds the archer in the library reading a book. As soon as he enters, he takes a seat in the chair next to Clint and folds his hands in his lap, trying to think of the best way to start the conversation.

"Hey, Clint?" he starts, voice a little wobbly.

"Hmmm?" responds Hawk, his head tilting slightly in Tony's direction, but his eyes never leaving the page he's reading.

"Is Phil... big... you know... down there...? Tony asks, turning a deep shade of red as he voices his question.

Clint drops his book into his lap and turns on Tony.

"Oh my God! You too?! I am not the Mata Hari of gay sex! I already had this conversation once with Steve. Go talk to him. Communication is the foundation of a healthy relationship. I am not going to be you guys' sex therapist. Go! Shoo!" Clint waves at him to go away, and Tony blushes even further as he stands and Clint goes back to his book. Just as he reaches the door, Clint speaks again, "There's nothing to be afraid of, Tony. If you're careful, and safe, he won't break you. You'll be fine."

Tony smiles softly and continues out the door, not even glancing back to thank his friend.

***

"Hey," Tony says when he finds Steve in his room later that day, after gathering his courage for a few more hours.

"Hey," Steve responds, putting down his book and patting the arm of the chair he's sitting in. Tony crosses and sit on it, leaning into Steve's shoulder, as he has a thousand times, though it has more meaning now than it did before. "How are you feeling?"

"Everything kind of feels small, like I'm bigger than I'm suppose to be, but Bruce thinks that should wear off in the next day or so," Tony answers with a sigh, "Speaking of things that are bigger than they're supposed to be..."

"I talked to Clint this morning," Steve interrupts suddenly, "I hope that doesn't upset you. He was the only person I could think of to ask about what to do as he's... currently sleeping with another man, though I doubt he and Phil have the same problem. Anyway, he gave me some advice on what we can do to make it as easy and as comfortable for you as possible. If you still want to, that is."

Startled by Steve's sudden outburst, Tony doesn't know what to say for a moment. He's immensely touched that the shy and reserved Captain put himself through the harrowing experience of asking Clint for advice on sex. He leans in and kisses Steve soundly for a moment, reveling in the fact that he _gets_ to. Probably whenever he wants, and isn't that a hell of a thing.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" Steve asks when Tony pulls away after a few moments.

"For going to talk to Clint, even though it was probably the hardest thing you've ever done, but you did it because you care about me, about us, and I wanted to show you my appreciation," Tony explains, planting one last chaste kiss on the Captain's lips before continuing, "I actually went to talk to him too. But he told me to talk to you, that we needed to work on our communication, and that he isn't our sex therapist."

Steve snorts at Clint's remarks, which he assumes are paraphrased, because even though Tony has a nearly eidetic memory, he still likes to shorten things when they shouldn't be and elaborate when he doesn't need to. Steve thinks it's one of his more endearing traits, though it can get a bit tiresome during battle, but he thinks those days are long over.

"Did he then?" Steve chuckles, "That's good. I'm certain I would die from the embarrassment if I had to talk to him about this again. They knew, by the way, about us liking each other. Apparently we were the only ones who _didn't_."

"Huh. That probably means our careers as spies are over," Tony quips, sliding into Steve's lap and straddling him.

"I'm afraid so," Steve retorts, and the conversation quickly devolves into a make-out session, with Tony grinding his rapidly hardening erection into Steve's own. After several minutes, Steve puts his hands on Tony's shoulders and the brunette pulls back. "We need to talk, Tony. I need to tell you what Clint's advice was, so we're on the same page. I don't want to go any further if you're still nervous. I won't push you into this."

"You're not pushing me into anything," Tony assures him, taking Steve's hand and placing it firmly over his erection, which can be felt through his pants, "I _want_ this. Just as much as you do. But you're right. I am still nervous, though Clint told me I shouldn't be. What all did he tell you?"

Steve repeats what Clint had told him that morning, helping Tony off his lap and pulling out a bag from the nightstand drawer. He dumps the contents on the bedspread, and a small toy, just barely bigger than a finger drops out, along with a large bottle of lube.

"I... had Natasha take me to the right store earlier. I wasn't really sure where to go to get what we needed. She was... enthusiastic... which was terrifying. But she showed me the things Clint was talking about and told me a bit more about how to use them. Plus a whole bunch more I never wanted to know, and those are images I can never unsee. But these should work to start with, right?" Steve questions, raising his eyebrows and wondering if Natasha had been pulling a prank on him when she'd shown him the appropriate items.

"I can't believe you went to the sex store without me!" Tony cries in shock, "Strike that. I can't believe you went to the sex store!"

Steve blushes and ducks his head a little, embarrassed. The Tony grabs the sides of his face and kisses him again, much more passionately this time, and Steve grips his waist, pulling Tony tight against him. They quickly shed each other's clothes and lay on the bed, breaking their kiss so they can just look at each other for a while. Steve runs his hands along Tony's arms and chest, drinking in the sight of Tony arching into each touch, and loving the small little mewls of pleasure that escape his lips. Tony's eyes rove the length of Steve's gloriously naked body, gulping audibly when he sees Steve's cock, which is just as huge was it was the first time he'd seen it, and it's not even fully hard yet. Steve follows his gaze and lays a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Steve asks one more time, "I'm okay with waiting until you're ready if you need a little more time."

"I'm fine," Tony assures him, pulling him in for another mouthwatering kiss, "I promise."

Steve nods, accepting the answer and grabs the bottle of lube, popping the cap, drizzling a bit on his fingers, and setting it by the pillow. He gently pushes Tony's knees apart and sits between them. He lifts one of Tony's legs and pulls it on to his shoulder, effectively granting him access to Tony's hole. He gently rubs lube around the small pucker, spreading it around and occasionally dipping the tip of his finger in before pulling it immediately back out. When Tony softly cries out for more, Steve obliges, pouring a bit more lube on his fingers before pushing one inside of Tony at an almost excruciatingly slow pace.

He slips the single finger in and out until he feels the muscle relax around him, and Tony's visibly tight body does the same. Then he adds a second finger, going just as slow, and adding more lube as he goes. Tony tightens back up for a moment as his body acclimates to the intrusion, but it doesn't take him nearly as long to relax this time. Steve repeats the process with the third and then the fourth finger, continuing until Tony is a whimpering mess beneath him, begging for Steve to just fuck him already.

Steve drizzles a large amount of lube onto his cock, coating himself thoroughly, and positions the tip of his dick at Tony's entrance. Slowly, pausing at any sign of discomfort, he presses himself inside his lover, the blissful pleasure of Tony's velvety walls around him nearly causing him to lose control of himself.

Tony takes deep breaths as Steve pushes inside of him. It hurts, but not as much as he thought it would, as Steve had done an extremely thorough job of preparing him. There is still a moment, when Steve is finally full seated inside of him that Tony does feel a little like he's being torn in half, but the feeling is fleeting, replaced instantly by want, and even more pressing need. Once he's certain Tony has adjusted, Steve pulls out a bit then pushes back inside, the tiny moan it causes making his dick grow even harder, which he hadn't thought was possible.

"You can... move faster... than that.." Tony says breathlessly, gripping the sheets beneath him until his knuckles are almost white, his own cock nearly purple with his need.

Steve takes Tony at his word and pulls out again, snapping his hips forward, driving deeper into his lover. Tony cries out at the movement, but there is nothing of pain in his voice. Just bone shaking pleasure. Between the heavenly feeling around his cock and the noises Tony is making, Steve can tell he isn't going to last very long. He wraps his hand around Tony's cock, eliciting more gorgeous sounds from between the genius' lips.

He thrusts forward again, even more powerfully before, and he feels Tony's entire body shift up the bed at his movement. It takes less than a dozen strokes for Steve to finish, and he calls out Tony's name as he fills him with his cum. Tony reaches his own climax at the exact same time, arching upwards and screaming his release.

The both fall bonelessly to the bed, Steve being careful not to land on Tony, and they curl up together, ignoring the mess they've made of the bed. Steve tosses a blanket over them and softly kisses the top of Tony's head.

"That was..." he says, unable to find the words to describe how wonderful the experience had been.

"It really was," Tony agrees, eyes drooping with exhaustion. He has to stifle a yawn, "We have _got_ to do that again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed it! As always, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought!


	6. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I was done with this story, but this short little epilogue demanded to be written. So, enjoy a little more!

"It's going really well!" Tony tells the man sitting in the chair across from him, holding Steve's hand tightly and smiling at his lover, "There's still some pain, but the little toy is helping, and we got some others things that are making it a lot easier."

"I think, the main reason we came to see you today," Steve starts flushing furiously, "Is because Tony wants to try doing it with a little less preparation. And even though things have been going well, I'm still worried about hurting him."

"Three fingers is still plenty of preparation!" insists Tony, glaring slightly at Steve, "It's not like I'm saying not to prepare at all. I just... like the burn... that's all."

"I understand that, but if I tear you, even just a little bit, I'd never forgive myself," Steve remarks, sadness in his eyes, "We've only been... doing this for a few months. I think we should wait until you're a lot more used to it at least. What do you think?" he turns to the man they've come to see.

The man stares at them for a long time, choosing his words carefully.

"I think I hate you both," Clint says, exasperated with both of them, "But you're both right. Tony, you need to respect Steve's reservations, and Steve, you need to respect that Tony knows his own body, and that he'll tell you if there's a problem."

"See? You don't have to treat me like I'm going to break all the time," Tony comments, feeling like he's won the argument.

"And both of you," Clint interrupts before the conversation can go any farther, "Both of you need to respect that while I'm more than happy to offer advice, I am _not_ your sex therapist! There are plenty of actual ones you can go to. Stop interrupting my practice time."

"You don't need any more practice," Tony says smuggly, "You never miss a shot."

"If you two don't stop bugging me, I'm going to start practicing on you," Clint informs them calmly, but with steel in his voice.

"Fair enough," Steve says, standing to leave, "Sorry to bother you, but thank you for the advice."

Steve pulls Tony to his feet and leads him to the door. Tony turns and waves to the archer just as Steve turns the handle.

"See you next week!"

The arrow barely misses his head as they disappear through the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you thought in the comments!


End file.
